Battle Cry of the Fallen
by The Next Author
Summary: Dream v. Reality. King v. Prince. Magic v. Belief. Makes you wonder which side your on... Sequel to My Fallen Angel
1. Introduction

**Battle Cry of the Fallen**

 **Part 1**

Sick of all these voices and the noise

Sick of the voices in my head

Now I'm begging for it

Begging for a pain to fill me

No, I'm no masochist

I'm just heading for Old Jack

Ready to be a King

If you want to kill me

Just wait, the table will turn

You can't take my life

Not while you oppress the people

Take my word, prince

You don't want to face a demon like me.

-Leo


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

The hard soled shoes clop across the cobblestone road, making their way to a five-star hotel in London. This particular man was a scientist of dreams from New York City. He was in London due to paranormal activity that his companion believed he could decipher.

The young scientist looks up at the stars as he turns to walk down to a coffee shop. That's when he notices that half of the constellation of Scorpio is missing. Instead, a cluster of stars is in its place.

"That…" the scientist sticks his pen in the sky, tracing the stars with it," That makes no-"

"Sense."

The scientist jumps as a dark, yet smooth voice emanates from the alley. Out of it comes a straw-berry blond man, fully dressed in black. He has a heavy winter coat. This confuses the scientist, for why would a man where a winter coat in the middle of July.

"Sir," he nods, "Who are you?"

The new man chuckles. "That's a good question. Who am I? I have many names. Morte, Shindeiru, Death. But, you may call me Hades."

The scientist takes a breath…and _runs_! But as he turns, he runs into a man who could not be older than his mid-twenties. His hair sticks out every which way and is bright red. His skin is snow white and his eyes are the same dark shade as the night around them.

"What do you want?!" the scientist pleads, reaching for his phone.

"Oh, nothing really," the boy shrugs, "Just one thing…" A sword explodes from the boys coat and stabs the cell phone. The scientist stumbles back. "Where is Hamato Leonardo and Raphael?"

"I don't know who you're talking about!"

The boy's lips twitch. "So be it."

The scientist tells as he's levitated into the air, and turned so he's facing Hades.

"Last chance," the death lord says, his skin peeling away to expose pure rotted bone.

"No, wait, please!"

"Finalized!" With nothing but a shock, black dust starts pouring from the scientist and goes into Hades. Hades smiles as his features grow younger and the scientist shrivels into a pear. When the scientist goes limp, Hades drops him and takes a new breath of life.

"That got us nowhere," the boy growls, running his fingers through his thick hair. "You killed our suspect! What are we supposed to do now, Death!?"

"Hades, if you please, Aro," Hades cautions, "It has a nice ring to it."

"Everything has a nice ring to you."

"Easy, young prince, I thought your father taught you not to play with Death."

"Enough! You're not at the top. I am!"

"In technical sense, Leonardo is at the top. You lost your throne to him."

"Save it, or I'll behead you."

"You can't kill death-"

"This isn't a nightmare, Death! This is a world of reality. You are a fable here!"

"As are you, Aro. But is that stopping you?"

Aro glares at Hades, "I can't stop. The nightmares are lost. I must find them before Leonardo or-"

"Or he'll be ultimate king. And you can't take that, can you?"

"He will _not_ be corinated, Hades."

The man of death smiles, "To America?"

Aro turns from him and walks back into the street, "To America."

Hades rolls his eyes but walks after Aro.

In the hotel, a young women look out the window, looking for the voices she heard. But when she looks, no one is there. It was as if those voices were never there at all…


	3. My History

**1: Leo**

 **MY HISTORY**

Today I wake up in Raph's bed.

I wake up in here sometimes. We all wake up in different places. All eight of us who went to the dream realm do. No matter where we fall asleep, it is assured by morning we will be in a different place. One time we found Master Splinter sleeping on our couch. He woke up, took one look at Raph then walked out looking like a scolded puppy.

Splinter hasn't truly been in the lair in a year. He avoids us, lives elsewhere and such. There was only one time he came home, got mad at me for doing a kata wrong and slapped me. Raph was on him faster than lightning and booting him out the door.

I groan as I turn to look at the clock. The digital clock blinks nine thirty-two, signaling a power outage. I'll be the last one up again. Whenever I sleep in Raph's room, I end up sleeping in. I smile because I know Raph likes that.

After laying there for about five more minutes, I hall my butt out of bed. The first thing I see when I leave the room is tea. Mikey always leaves some for me when I sleep in. I smile, take a sniff of it and wonder if it's drinkable.

Shell what am I kidding!? I've drunk worse!

On my way to the front, I stop at the dojo and stare in. I don't remember when the beating began or why I was forced to drink poisonous liquids, then throw it up. But I do remember my first punishment…

I remember Sensei would grab my arm and drag me to the bathroom. Sometimes I'd get scratches from his nails but I was too young to care. He'd put me up on the sink and smash my beak into the mirror. He'd do that a few times, then when he heard Raph screaming or Donnie crying or Mikey whining, he'd pull me back and say:

 _You're a bad son. A terrible one. Bad, bad, bad. You will stand here till I come to get you. Bad, bad boy._

Because of that punishment, I can't look in the mirror without thinking I'm a bad, bad boy. So I end up looking in one for seven seconds at the most.

Donnie noticed it first. He didn't say anything about it, but lets me stand farthest from the mirror or behind him. Eventually, the others caught on.

 _Did we miss anything?_

I hate that question. Raph asks it all the time when we're in the dojo. Raph had this fit when we got home and raided everything, pointing things at me to see if I flinched at it, then throw it out. The dojo is completely empty except that tree. But Raph still asks if he missed anything, even a year later.

Donnie had that fit, too. Only with gasoline, rat poison and ammonia. He has Casey fill the truck when the Shell raiser needs it. He won't touch the stuff.

Finally I move away from the dojo and go the front. The TV is blaring when I enter. Raph is sitting cross-legged on the couch, looking at a phone. Whether it is his or mine is an excellent question. Mikey is playing a videogame, laying on the couch. Donnie is one the floor, staring at the news.

I look at the TV. I can't see the headline cause of Donnie's head but I can see a body bag, police tape and an ambulance.

"What are you watching, Donnie?" I ask.

"You're not going to believe this, Leo." He says, "A New York scientist was found dead in London. Do you know how long it took to identify him?"

I shrug. "Ten minutes."

"An _hour._ An hour, Leo. The guy is only thirty-two years old and they say he looked over a hundred years old. There was no gun wound, stab wound or anything on him! He just…died."

"That's clear in London, Donnie." Raph says, "Let them take care of it. Hey, Leo, your girlfriend texted you."

"Not my girlfriend."

"Yeah, and Mikey isn't an idiot."

"HEY!" Mikey howls.

I walk over and snatch my phone, "You didn't answer her, did you?"

"I thought about it but then I thought, hey! This relationship is doomed anyway so why not let it run its course."

"Hate you, Raph."

"Love you, Leo."

"Yep."

Karai. It took six months before we went out on a date. Shredder told her I lost Kate in the dream realm. Told her to be nice to me till I heal up. It took six months. We've only been on three dates. It would probably be more but Shredders been trying to screw his head back on. He tries to convince himself he needs to fight me but then he thinks of my cuts, abuse and Karai's happiness, and he falls right back to the beginning. So I can just walk into his place and he'll just wave and yell at everybody. I can go anywhere in his domain unless it's Karai's room. I learned that the hard way. I took one little step in her room and he charged me like a bull, grabbed me and threw me out the window. It's his loss though. He had a nice cherry red Lamborghini. Now it has an indent on the roof shaped like my shell.

I go to the kitchen and sit. I smile at the message.

HEY BOO.

WANT 2 C U.

Karai has been trying out these nicknames. She's trying to decide which she likes best. So far its been Tidiot, a mix of turtle and idiot.

I text her back.

C U 2 NIGHT. MURAKAMIS.

She texts back a few minutes later.

':) LUV U.

It shocks me every time she puts that. It just seems impossible. With shaking hands, I text back.

LUV U 2.

Then Mikey wanders in.

"Hey, dude," he smiles," How's Leorai coming?"

I look up at him, one eye raised, " _Leorai?"_

"What? Don't like? How about…Keo!"

" _Keo!"_

"Come on, Leo. You're not giving me much support here."

I sigh," Fine. Leorai. But don't say it in front of, Raph. Got it."

Mikey snickers," I bet if it was up to Raph, you would never date. It'd be just you and him. You and him forever. Raphnardo-"

"OKAY, MIKEY!" I howl, "Thank you but I can handle Raph. He'll just have to put up with it."

Mikey leans on the counter," You know, Leo, Raph just doesn't like the idea of you dating because he thinks Karai will abuse you."

I get up and put my cup in the sink." No surprise. He thinks I'm a masochist."

"Well…are you?"

That is an excellent question. Am I a masochist?

"I don't know, Mikey. I just…I don't know."

"…oh."

Silence.

And Raph breaks it, "Hear the call! Fight to live! Love will win!"

"Raph," I yell. He jogs into the kitchen, a smile on his face. I smile. He frowns.

"Don't you say it," he growls.

I just shake my head. I introduced him to a certain song called _Soldier_ by Gentri yesterday. He said he wouldn't like it. I did. Now he's singing it as he's walking and probably showering. "I'm going to Murakami's tonight. You're gonna have to lead patrol."

"Leo," Raph moans like a child," You know I hate taking your spot."

"Funny," I say, "As I recall, you wanted to be leader."

Raph glares at me and so quietly says," that was before I almost lost you to my hate and jealousy."

"Raph-"

"I'm not letting it go! I can't! I just…I can't!"

With that Raph marches out, nearly knocking Donnie off his feet. Don looks at me. "Death?"

I nod and shrug," Death."

"Leo's got a date tonight," Mikey smiles.

Donnie grunts, "Raph's probably gonna want me, Casey and him go which means your gonna have to entertain April."

"Isn't that supposed to be your job?" Mikey laughs. 

"Mikey!" Donnie and I moan.

The rest of the day I turn the house upside down looking for my jeans and leather jacket. With Mikey's mischief and Raph's hate of Karai, they both probably hide them where the _world_ would never think to find the stuff. Finally around three in the afternoon, I go into Mikey's room and find my jeans under his mattress. If I hadn't had to go anywhere, I wouldn't have touched them till April came so she could wash them.

I finally my jacket ten minutes before I had to leave. It's in Raph's room, folded on is bed. To my surprise, there's a t-shirt with it and topped with a note. I snatch it. It's short just as Raph likes it.

 _I know I hate the Hamato signia now. But I know you don't. Just remember while your being part of the Foot, you're everything to three little things. I love you. – Raph_

I pick up the black t-shirt and hold it out in front of me. On the back is my brother's names, making out lines of their body's. On the front is the word brothers in Japanese and underneath is the circle of four leaf signia of the Hamato's. The four circles are colored blue, purple, red and orange. I smile when I notice that the red circle sits directly where my heart would be.

I know he's outside the door. So I say loud enough so he can hear, "Love you, too, Raphie."

I can already see his grin going from ear to ear.

I take off all my gear before putting my shirt and jacket on. When I see my cuts, I stop. I stare. The R seems to glare at me.

 _GET OUT OF MY LIFE! I WISH YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!_

I flinch at Raph's harsh voice. No! He doesn't wish that! He told me! I grab the shirt, flip it and the jacket on the run out of there as fast as I can.

Karai is already seated down when I arrive. She is in her spiked jacket and black pants. I can't help but wonder what Kate would think of her. My dear Kate…

I shake that thought from my head and sit. Karai looks at me as I notice that the closed sign is flashing.

"New shirt," she says.

I glance at it and nod. "Raph got it. Must have got it so I stop walking around shirtless."

Karai laughs and it makes my insides squirm.

"Leonardo-san." Murakami calls, "Pizza gyoza?"

"Hai. Thank you," I say.

Murakami laughs and turns back to his cooking. Karai raises a brow. "What?"

She shrugs," Dad's on the roof."

I nod, "I know. Kinda obvious when the full moon shows his shadow."

"Tidiot."

"Chisai onna no ko."

She scowls and I laugh weakly. Karai grabs my jacket and I immediately heat up. "Are we serious, Leo?"

"Serious?" I say, shrinking in my shell.

Murakami puts a plate of gyoza before us and wanders off though I know he's still listening. I start eating.

"Yeah. I mean you're my boyfurendo. And I'm your garufurendo."

"Yes." I say. "But…define seriousness."

She pushes me in annoyance, "Commitment. Are we committed?"

I eye the gyoza's, then pick one up with black chop sticks. I hold it to her face and smile," Eat one of these and it's a yes."

She stares at the gyoza, crossing her arms, flustered, "I'm not eating it, stupid, now get it away from my face."

I frown and hold it closer. "Karai, you made me eat gross fish off your sword. The least you can do is eat this. It's not like pizza gyoza is going to kill you."

"It could be poisoned. 

"Karai."

She shakes her head. I sigh. There's only one thing left to do. So I give her my big-blue-eyes-that-are-to-die-for look. "Please." She's faltering.

She scowls," Fine. Give me one."

I'm awesome!

I smile and put the piece in her mouth. Her face stays straight but I can tell she likes it. "So." I say.

"It's bearable," she says.

I giver he a toothy grin. She stares at my mouth. "You loved it."

"How would you know?"

"Well, you love me, don't you? This is how you act when you say you love me, so you must love this."

Karai blushes. "How is it that I know only certain things about you, but you seem to know so much about me?"

I stand, pay Murakami, say thank you, and turn to leave. "I told you. I know all."

Karai takes my big hand in hers. We walk out as she laughs, "Oh, really? What's the capital of the Czech Republic?"

"Uh...," She got me. She laughs at my face.

"So, we're committed?"

I nod, and look her in those pretty eyes. "Hai, utsukushi."

Karai stops and presses her palm to my cheek. "Good. Cause I wouldn't have let you go if you didn't think so."

We draw in. Our lips touch right as there's a scream and an arm wraps around my waist and jerks me back.

"NO. KISSING!" Shredder howls, shoving me off the sidewalk.

"DAD," Karai howls back, "Go home! I'm seventeen! I can _kiss_!"

Shredder gets into the famous 'dad gives a lecture mode' and says, "Seventeen isn't old enough! Eighteen is just right! Besides, Leonardo is sixteen. Yoshi wouldn't approve."

I jump in," Actually, Splinter-"

Shredder glares at me, "You still owe me a new car."

"A new car!" I screech, "You're the one who threw me out a window!"

"Guys, "Karai howls. We look at her," Dad, please go home."

Shredder isn't the same. He's less moody. I think that's because if he hurts me Karai will leave the cause. Anyway, he gestures at me like I'm a toy, "I've already tried to kill him. I can do much worse at my own leisure."

"Speaking of, "I say," Have you got your brain screwed back on yet."

We ball our fists and glower but Karai gets in the middle of us. "Stop it. Leo, I-"

Her voice is interrupted by the howl of a wolf. The three of us stop and listen. More howl till all is silent again.

"What was that?" I whisper.

"That…that can't be right." Karai says.

"We're going home," Shredder says.

"Dad?" Karai says.

"You've got a genius." Shredder says to me. He grabs Karai's arm and drags her into an alley," Find out what that was and tell us."

Then he's gone. 

Wolves? That can't be right. Not this far into the city. They howl again, only closer this time. Considering the only things I've got as a weapon is a knife, I decide this mystery is to be solved another day.

As I head home, I think about that murder from this morning. A guy in London, thirty-two years old and looks over a hundred. Could the Kraang have been transferring to London? Are these wolves part of it? Maybe they're a new experiment. Makes sense right.

I enter our home right as I hear a slam come from Donnie's lab. I jog to it and enter right as Mikey and April slam into me. "What the-"

Mikey grabs my wrist and pulls me into the lab. April screams," Leo, the table! Look!"

I do look. The table is split, a lot like the stone table on the Chronicles of Narnia. Donnie's crap is all over the floor, clinking and shaking like there's an earthquake.

"Wha-What is happening?" Mikey yells, clinging to me.

That's when half of the room explodes into light. Once it dims, Donnie's lab is reduced to darkness. His table is now half metal half wood. The walls are brick and wood. What looks like sunlight is peering through cracks in a seemingly brick wall. Food, maps and weapons mix with Donnie's junk. And in it all is a familiar, not as shocked as ours.

Mikey is the one to speak first. "No. Freakin'. Way."


	4. Werewolves

**2: Raph**

 **WEREWOLVES**

"You're in my way, big nose!"

"Apparently, you haven't looked in a mirror, Dumbo."

One, two, three. Meditating is good. Four, five, six. Two idiots are going to be dead.

I turn from my spot at the edge of an apartment roof, and to my brother and best friend.

"SHUT UP!" I howl angrily, "Why is it that Leo gets to have you two quiet and I have to deal with the arguing!?"

Casey shoves Donnie, "It's his fault. He shouldn't be annoying April all the time."

"ME!" hisses Donnie, hitting Casey in the back with his staff, "Who roller-skated into our lair like a MORON!"

"ENOUGH!" I yell. "We're going to attract attention that I don't want."

Donnie snorts as he points east toward Murakami's, "You just want to spy on Leo's date."

"I DO NOT!"

Casey snorts," Dude, I thought Shredder did that."

"He does," Donnie scowls," But what does Raph care."

"I'm not looking for Leo," I hiss through clenched teeth and a straight face. "What if I'm looking for Slash?"

Slash…Spike…turned mutant. I miss him. Sometimes I wish Leo didn't freak out whenever Slash stood over him…

Casey stares at me, "Slash? Man, you haven't talked to that guy since the whole Splinter incident."

The incident he's referring to is the time Slash told me he'd seen Leo get beaten many times and I had a conniption fit. Slash ran out before I could hit him between the eyes.

"Speaking of," Donnie says leaning on his staff, facing away from Casey who looks like he wants to knock Donnie off his feet," I wonder how Rockwell is doing with him."

I turn back to the street below, my heart racing with hate, "I don't know and I don't care."

"Raph, Leo forgave-"

"Well, I didn't! And I know you haven't either, Donnie."

Donnie is silent. Casey is, too, for once. Finally, he says," What is still bothering you?"

I eye an alley. There are shadows moving in it. "What should be bothering you. How Leo flinches whenever we move. How he eyes his drink as if its poison. How he looks at the doors like someone is going to come and hurt him. It's sick, Donnie. Sick! We're monsters. We didn't see him hurting! What kind of family are we if we don't see our brother…our brother…"

I stop. It's painful. I'm a monster. I'm a big, evil monster…

"Look at it this way, then." Casey says slowly," We went to the dream world and found out. Leo's alive right now. Chances are, if we hadn't gone there, Leo could be dead right now, by Splinters hand or his own."

Casey's right but I hate to admit it. Shell, I'm a terrible brother. I'm a monster….

 _YOU DID THIS, RAPH! NOT SPLINTER! YOU! YOU DID THIS! I'M A CUTTER BECAUSE OF YOU! I'M A MASOCHIST BECAUSE OF YOU! I WOULD HAVE KILLED MYSELF BECAUSE OF YOU!_

I hold back tears and glance back at the alley.

Right in time to see three Purple Dragons walk out, carrying what I'm guessing is stolen stuff.

"Casey, Donnie," I whisper, "We got a bogey."

They run over to the edge as I take out my Sai's. Casey smiles. "Looks like we got an eventful night after all."

Donnie chuckles, "I guess we're gonna have to spy on Leo later, huh, Raph."

"Shut up," I hiss, "let's move."

We follow the Dragons clear to another alley, where they turn laughing. We jump from our roof and follow quietly, weapons drawn.

"Did you see that guy's ugly mug?" One asks.

"Yeah," the other two say," We should come to this side of town more often."

Casey decides to add his own comment," That's great. More fun for us, and more pain for you."

The dragons whip around. Fong, the only one I really know, looks at us and groans," REALLY! I CAN'T HAVE ONE NIGHT! JUST ONE NIGHT!"

Leo would tell these guys to drop the stuff and go. But I'm not Leo. So I just attack, like I want. I fling Fong's butcher knife down the alley and kick him into the wall. I hear grunts and moans from Don and Casey's victims.

Fong curs into a ball and holds his hands to his face as I cock my fist back, aimed for the Dragons forehead.

 _HOWL!_

Every person in the alley stops moving. I'm about to yell at the Dragons for sounding like the dogs they are when one of them yells," Fong, what was that?!"

I look at Fong. Fong looks at me. Then we look down at the ground. Instead of cement, we see…cobblestone? And then, we look down the alley that seems to have turned to an old fashioned European city.

"Raph," Casey mumbles.

"Hold on," I whisper though only Fong can hear me. The howl arises again. And a lot more echo it. Then the howl turn to voices, growling like savages.

"Find the prince. Get the prince. Kill the prince."

 _Find the prince. Kill the prince._

"Run," I say as quiet as I can," Run now!"

But it's too late. Four, five, six big animals run straight into the alley. Their hairy and have every look of a wolf. But they stand on two legs, running like the devil straight at me, teeth bared toward my neck.

"WEREWOLVES!" Fong hollers, bolting out of the alley as fast as his legs will take him. And the rest of us are not far behind.

"We're not fighting back!" Casey yells.

If I wasn't sprinting for my life, I'd smack him. "NO, you dimwit! The Shredder wouldn't fight these things let alone us!"

"How do you know?!"

Donnie barks out," SHUT UP, CASEY!"

Fong and his goons disappear down the street into an abandoned building. Only one wolf attempts to get them.

Donnie and I reach a fire escape and jump to the first platform. The second I reach the forth one, I realize- Casey can't jump this high!

I whip around in time to see the biggest wolf chomp down on my best friends held out arm, trying to protect himself. Casey screams, almost drowning out the wolves howls.

" _Kill the prince! Kill the prince!"_

"CASEY!" I yell scrambling to get my Sai. But Donnie already down there, whacking the wolf in the head, like a batter hitting a baseball.

While the wolves are distracted for only a few seconds, Donnie pushes Casey to his feet and up the ladder. "GO! GO! GO!"

Casey scrambles up to the roof as fast as he can. I don't move till I see Donnie worm his way up behind Casey almost losing a toe to a wolf with a good jump.

Once on the roof, we look back down. The wolves are howling like mad. One, the wolf who bit Casey, looks up at us and…grins.

"You can't hid forever, Prince," it howls, bloody eyes and teeth shining, "We will find you and you're precious king, too."

Casey chuckles weakly," Hah, hah. Wizard of Oz."

Sirens blare a few blocks down. The wolf howls and the six scatter. When the red and blue lights start flashing, I say," Let's go. Now!"

Case and Don don't object.

When we get roofs away, we stop. Donnie grabs Casey's arm and hisses," Hold still and it won't hurt."

Casey ignores Donnie as Don wraps up Casey's arm with a piece of puck heads jacket. "Raph… was that…real?"

"I…I don't know."

"Oh, that makes me feel better."

I whip to the two and snarl," I don't know what happened! All I know is that there were _werewolves_ and the cement turned to cobble stone."

"Cobblestone?" Donnie says.

"You didn't see that?"

They shake their heads.

"Well, it was. We need to get home. There must have been some weird anomaly form the Kraang or…or something!"

Donnie says, "My computer might catch it if there was an anomaly pulse."

I whip to him, "Than hurry with Casey's arm. I want answers."

Donnie takes another minute to do Casey's arm, then we run to the sewers and through them as fast as we can.

When we enter our home, I say," Donnie, where's your computer?"

"In my lab."

We walk to it and enter as I say," You sure it would have-"

We stop. Leo, Mikey, and April turns to us, then back to the blond man with the purple jacket.

Casey stutters," C-C-," But Donnie finishes with no explanation to his voice.

"Corin?"


	5. Corin

**3: Donnie**

 **CORIN**

"How is this possible? How are you here?"

Those are the proper questions to ask right? I'll assume you all know yes. But guess what our stupid little group does.

We stare. We stare and stare and stare. Till Corin finally says, "Why aren't you going to say hello or not?"

I blink out of my haze as Leo says, "We're sorry, Corin. It's…it's just…how are you _here_!?"

Corin frowns, "Well that will have to do. I thought I'd get a better welcoming from my old friends. After all that magic I used to make sure I got in this spot-"

Corin spots Casey's arm and crosses his arms, "I see you had a run in with Aro's wolves."

April turns to Casey, "Wolves? Aro? What?"

"Aro," Raph gaps, "He sent those things into _our city_!"

Mikey intervenes," Guys, one thing at a time."

April walks to Casey to look at his arm. I glower at him as Corin grumbles under his breath.

"Look, if you want me to explain everything to you, then I have to start at the beginning. The _very beginning_."

We twist to him. "Oh, goody," Casey croaks, "A history lesson."

Corin moves to his side of the room, looking through my cracked table and shuffling through everything on wood shelves. "Don't tell me I lost that, too. By the king's name, I'm turning into Merlin."

Leo's ears perk as he hears this favorite wizard's name. We all do.

"Merlin?" April asks.

"Yeah, Merlin," Corin says as he throws some sort of skull to the ground. It lands so it looks like it's eyeing me. I almost think it _winks_ at me. "The wizard of everything. The guy who helped King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake. Speaking of, I still need to find that sword."

"Excalibur." Leo whispers.

Mikey speaks up," So, Merlin is, like, you sensei?"

Sensei, teacher, care taker and the only father-figure I had besides Be'Joke who considered me brother rather than son. CURSE IT! Be'Joke would know where I put it."

"Dude," Casey smiles, "that is totally met-OW!"

I laugh as Casey's eyes tear up when April touches the giant bite on his arm. I cough and say, "Loser."

"Dude, what are you looking for?" Raph asks.

Corin ducks under the book shelf, rooting around for something," I'm uh…I'm looking…uh…for…for um…GOT IT!"

Corin jerks up to his feet holding a dusty, torn up scroll. He waddles over to the science table-I almost want to cry at the giant crack- and has us gather around it. We watch as he flings the scroll out, spreading it clear to the wall. On it are pictures. I can't help but gasp when I see the Starship Enterprise in front of me. Underneath it, it says the year 1966.

"What is this?" I ask.

Corin smiles, "It's our dream realm history, of course."

"So, we're seeing it on a scroll?" Casey says, eying a picture of Scrooge and Jacob T. Marley with the date 1843.

Corin scoffs," What do you think I am? Boring! No, I'm looking at the scroll. I need a guideline so I can tell this right. _You_ are going to watch it."

Leo frowns. Raph says, "Watch it?"

I smile, "The crystal ball."

He smiles sadly back, "Only, "He waves his hand and the ball appears, "it's enhanced."

There's a blue cloud inside the ball. Corin blows on it and the smoke rolls into us, clouding our vision. I cough and the smoke clears. My friends and brothers stand by me in the middle of…well…nothing! All there is, is blackness.

"Where are we?" Raph asks.

"Are we inside the ball?" I ask.

Corins voice bounces through the darks space." In a sense. Now, as I tell the history, you can actually see it."

Casey laughs," Now this is metal! All history should be used like this."

"Oh, Casey," April sighs.

Corin starts and stars and sand appear," As you should know, our world is built off of your worlds dreams, beginning with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and even Adam." As he says the names, an image of the men appear.

"Our world continued to grow and flourish. We grew as your world grew, changing every time a dream became defining. As your technology and ideas grew, we grew. Finally, Merlin was created."

The land changes into an emerald hill, a stone castle behind it. A grey bearded wizard with a purple robe and a staff stands on the hill, looking into a pale sky.

"Merlin lived a long, long time. Arthur survived for forty years. Excalibur was hid as soon as Arthur died, making sure it was hid from Lancelot and Guinevere. Then one day, something happened. Something that would define our world for centuries."

We jump as a loud thunder like boom crashes through the atmosphere. A glowing silver slit cuts through the sky. Out of it comes a black haired man in a brown and white tunic. As he lands in front of Merlin, Corin says, "A man, one soul, got through the barrier of the worlds and broke it."

"It had never happened before. It was so bizarre. The whole world melted into chaos. But Merlin didn't notice until it was beyond his power."

The scene changes. We are in a cave, Merlin and the man are standing at a table looking over ancient science equipment. "Merlin and this man, Roul Tirbury was his name, studied the difference between the worlds. They studied sciences, magic and the barrier. They both noticed since Rouls arrival that things from our world and this world were coming and going. Arthur's great castle was now in ancient China and the pharaoh, Tut, was found walking through newly made War Haven as a Zombie. Things were getting out of hand. So, Roul became Merlin's first apprentice. And when he was ready, Merlin and Roul fixed the barrier.

Merlin and Roul appear in a blue forest, holding their hands to the sky where red and sliver magic brings a giant hole between the dream red sky and our blue sky to a close.

"Now keep in mind that not all creatures returned to their right world. That's why there were dragons and witches and every other mystical creature in your world. Big Foot, the Locknesse monster, mermaids, ya da, ya da, ya da. And our world got Suides who get free access and I think that's all we got minus Roul and you're continued influence.

"Anyhow, what Merlin didn't know is that Roul, his precious apprentice, had been dabbling in bad magic. Dark magic. A magic that was a power lusted by every king and big power but _he_ , Roul of Earth, gained. The man learned the power of dreams and soon he controlled them."

"No," Leo gasped as the bright eyed Roul turned slowly into a monster we know all too well.

"Oh, yes," Corin says, "Believe it or not, that small weasel turned into the big bad Nightmare King. I'm sure you can guess what happened from there until today. He ran rampant."

Slowly the world around us turns dark. Arthur's castle turns into towering Old Jack. Bavanda's beautiful queen is offered marriage, where she bares the King Aro, then goes and kills herself, leaving Aro motherless. Slowly, the world builds up until we're in Abandon standing at a metal fountain, staring at Be'Joke and a young Corin watch my ani's at five years old, singing their little hearts out.

We are speechless until Raph says," Corin…was that hole completely sealed?"

Corin answers, sighing," Yes, it was. Though, the king tried many times to get through so that he could wreak havoc on your would. But Suide after Suide came through and no one got out."

Leo speaks up, "Corin, Raph and I weren't Suides then. But we got through. Wouldn't that have broken the barrier?"

Corin's voice pauses before going, "Be'Joke said it this way. You two were so young, so small, it wouldn't have made a big hole. Just a tine one that would go unnoticed."

I blink, wincing as the blue smoke surrounds me again and I'm back in my lab/Corin's home. Corin stands, face tear-stained clutching Be'Joke's purple jacket and I know he's grieving all over again.

"But when all eight of you came through, it rebroke the barrier. No one noticed. Not until now."

Leo shakes his head," why now?"

Corin shrugs," I don't know. We first noticed when a bunch of rocks fell into the city of Bavanda."

I realize something," Rocks…they must have been from the rockslide in Amsterdam."

Corin nods," Then, Amun, Sadie, his clan and half of the Suide Empire disappeared. We…we don't know what's going on. That's why I'm here. I had to talk to you. Aro, he's here. He's-"

"Guys!" We turn to see Mikey at the door, remote in hand," You need to see this."

We quickly run out to the front, Corin behind us. We stop when we see two body bags and a forest with police tape.

Corin hiccups," Oh, dear."

The announcer comes on. She looks pale," Thanks, Charles, I'm here in Eastern Europe that is as Transylvania as you can get. Two bodies have been found with multiple bite marks. They are shaped like a vampire's. You heard me. Vampire. I know this sounds absurd but I'm telling the truth-"

"Well," Corin says, biting a nail," I know where Amun is now."

"Oh, shell," Casey groans, rubbing his arms," this is really happening."

"Didn't Don say that when the rebellion began?" Mikey asks, changing the channel so it shows New York on the news. Wolf claws are begin shown on the asphalt. It freaks me to see that we were there only an hour ago."

"What are we supposed to do?" I say," We don't know how to stop this."

Corin nods," There might be a way." He turns to Leo, "And, Leonardo, the kingdom, the world is going to need a king now more than ever."

Leo chokes," A…a king?"

"If I know Aro, he will have a way to keep these holes open and rule two worlds, a feat is father never accomplished. In order to ensure that, he will have to kill both you and your family and earn back his throne. That murder this morning in London- yes I know about it- it was a warning. A warning to you."

Leo groans and rubs his head as if he's got a headache. He says," One, I can't be king. Two, a king needs his advisers. I only see one advisor and I need both. So," he throws his hands up," where's Felix?"


	6. Road Trip

**4: Karai**

 **ROAD TRIP**

"Honey, I need you to meet me at Murakami's."

I chuckle as I shove more of my dad's nasty noodles in my mouth," Oh, so now you start calling me honey." I tuck the phone between my shoulder and my ear as I say that.

In the background I hear Raph say, "Can you two keep that romance crap to a minimum around me."

Leo ignores him," Look I need to talk to you about something. I want to take you on a road trip."

I stop eating and sit back against my bed. "A road trip?"

"Yeah. To Wallace, a small town outside Hershey."

"Pennsylvania?"

"Um…yeah."

"Why?"

"I need to pick up a friend."

"You have a friend in _Wallace, Pennsylvania_."

"Yeah, sounds weird but I do. You coming?"

"Dad won't let me."

There's shuffling and a voice on the other side. It's one I've never heard. Leo says something then comes back, "Don't tell him."

I laugh," Leo, you want me to try and lie to _the Shredder_ so I can go and spend a how many day road trip with you."

He hesitates and slowly lets the word slip, "Yes."

"We could just go alone." I hear Raph say.

"Wait, Raph's going?" I say.

"Yeah, why?"

I smile. I may make Father mad but I would have the time of my life tormenting that hot head. "Okay, I'm in."

"Wait, just like that. Just cause Raph's coming?"

"Yeah."

Silence. 

"You're going to torment him."

"Oh, darling, you know me so well." I say. "I'll meet you at noon. Love you."

I've noticed that Leo hesitates before saying the words. It worries me that he's lying or doubting. But that doubt in me fades when his perfect voice says, "Love you, too."

Then I hang up.

A road trip…I've been meaning to see more of America. And why not do it with my favorite boy and his terrible brother. But my father…I'll have to think of a great lie to get past him. Emergency? A friends flying in? 

What am I kidding!? Father will kill me if I spend more than an hour with Leo, let alone days. Maybe I'll try the truth. Or lie, whatever's easier.

I take a deep breath, stand and get dressed in my skinny jeans and leather jacket with spikes. I fluff my hair so it at least looks half decent. I doubt Leo will care if my make up's smeared or my hair is going every which way but I don't want to be mistaken.

As soon as I'm ready, I slip past everyone in the halls and past the bright yet tinted windows. I'm almost past the double doors when Tigerclaw stops me.

"Where are you going so early in the day, cub?"

I groan, dropping my hand from the door handle. I twist back to the one eyed tiger. He has his arms crossed, staring at me, growling.

"None of your concern, Tigerless," I snarl," I can go wherever I want during the day."

"I don't remember Master Shredder allowing you to do so."

"I don't need his permission."

If Tigerclaw had lips, he'd be pursing them. Instead, he licks his tongue over his teeth, like the does when he's agitated.

"What you gonna do, pussy," I hiss, smiling," Hogtie me and put me in my room for the day?"

Tigerclaw smirks, "Be proud you are not my responsibility." He waves his hand as if dismissing me. "Go on. Go to your boy toy. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

"He's not my boy toy-"

Tigerclaw rolls his eyes but says no more. I scowl, then stomp out before the big bad tigey-wigey could change his pea-sized mind.

I sprint all the way to Murakami's. Tigerclaw might tell Father I'm out just to get me in trouble. He'll know I'll meet Leo at Murakami's and go straight there. He might be on his way right now…

When I get there, there is no sign of them, so I run around back. Seems logical that the Turtles would hide out back, out of public eye.

I am correct. Leo is in back, leaning against the ugliest van I have ever seen. It's yellow with different colored flowers like a hippy van. The only beautiful thing about it is the boy completely in black, with sparkling emerald blue skin, silk blue bandana and gorgeous eyes.

He smiles his perfect grin, saying," I thought you'd never get here."

I smile back," I never thought you'd doubt me like such, Leonardo."

Leo chuckles, then turns to look though the van window," Raph, get in back."

That's when I finally see the big beaked turtle in the passenger seat, messing around with the buttons on his black shirt, his feet are up on the dashboard, jeans bunched at his ankles.

I wave, "Hello, Raphael."

He doesn't acknowledge me or look up. Instead, he scowls and argues, "I ain't moving an inch! She can squeeze her fat butt in the back seat and keep her obese lips shut 'til we get back home."

There is no filter on his insults. Leo looks like he's gonna slap him. I ignore the terrible words and say," Good seeing you again, too, Raphie."

Though he uses his middle finger to point, this time, I know he's using it to flip me off.

Leo sighs and opens the van's back door for me. I climb in, and sit in the middle of the seat where I can see the road, stare at Leo and bug Raph endlessly.

The minute we hit the highway through Manhattan and out of the city, I catch a gleam of black in the rear view mirror. Unfortunately, Raph sees it to.

"Leo, someone's following us."

I look back but can see nothing beyond the tinted windows.

Leo nods," I know. I'm not stopping. Shredder can either turn around or follow us all the way to Wallace."

I almost scream. DAD! STOP FOLLOWING! RAPH'S HERE! NOTHING WILL HAPPEN WHILE HE'S HERE!

To distract myself from tearing his ugly disco-like seat cover, I turn to Leo and ask," So, why are we going to Wallace?"

Leo's grip on the steering wheel tightens, then loosens. Raph snorts, "This is going to be a long drive."

Leo sighs, "Well, Karai, do you remember how Shredder and I told you about Kate? Well, she had a friend. His name was Felix…"


	7. Seeing Be'Joke

**5: Mikey**

 **SEEING BE'JOKE**

After Donnie and I watch Kirby's hippy van drive out of the city, Don goes to the kitchen, shell cell to his ear. He wants April and Casey, April mostly, to be down here. They would be safer here. Casey's dad is out of town with his sister anyway, and April's dad had to fly to London to verify that one guy's body. So they're both coming down here to stay a few days.

I watch Donnie walk out of the lab only to be replaced by Corin. His hair is sticking out every which way. His face and eyes are red from tears. His clothes are wrinkled, but, miraculously, Be'Joke's jacket doesn't have on crease or rumple. It's straight. Since Corin is shorter than Be'Joke is, the jacket goes clear to his knees.

Corin looks up at me and smiles weakly. "You know, I was just reaching into your freezer and your little ice cream cat scared the heebie-jeebies out of me. Thought he was one of those walking strawberry's that come into the towns sometimes. They like to terrorize people. One tried to terrorize me. I ended up turning it into a fat blueberry."

I laugh just to make him feel better. For some reason, I can't get the jacket out of my head so I ask," Corin, I only knew Be'Joke for a little while. I don't know, like, anything about him. Can you tell me more about him? Please?"

The wizard winces, but nods, "Yeah, yeah, I'll tell you about him. No prob."

The wizard stumbles over to me and sits with me on Don's desk. He grabs one of the tools covered with oil and sweat and sighs.

"Be'Joke…he was the closest thing to a father that I ever had. Merlin was second to it. But Be'Joke didn't like being considered my dad. He was afraid but I still called him brother and dad. When Leonardo and Raphael came, things were…tough. Be'Joke and I were…fighting. After his wings got cut off, he told me why he was a Suide-"

"Why is he?" I interrupt.

Corin bites his lip," He lost someone and another he loved harmed him."

"Like Leo?"

"Yes. And no. That type of pain was…different."

"How different?"

"I…don't know. The spots…his were pink and Leonardo's red. They both mean abuse from someone close but not too close."

"Oh…"

He continues, "We ran to Tirbury and that's where we got his jacket. I told him it would cover his back and I always said he'd look good in a jacket." Corin snorts, "He said he'd look like the Joker if he wore purple. He took it anyway."

I smile and remember when we first saw Be'Joke. I said he looked like the Joker. He thought the same.

"If you guys were so close, why did you separate?"

"The King would have found us. The only way to stay safe was to assume Be'Joke was only an accomplice to me and was still loyal to the King. I had to go into hiding, no communication whatsoever. The only way to communicate was if Smarty, Donatello, came around and the rebellion started."

"Oh…that sucks. I couldn't imagine not being able to talk to my bro's for so many years." I say," Corin, were you scared when Be'Joke died?"

He flinches and looks away, "Yeah. Aro could sense it, too. He drew on it so that he and Alec could get away. If I hadn't gotten scared, we could have had them. They could be gone and none of this would be happening. But I did! And Be'Joke's gone…"

I frown, "You really think it's your fault they got away?"

Corin stares at his finger. "I, uh, I don't really know. I guess it would because…well…because…"

This is wrong. Be'Joke's death and Aro's escape is not Corin's fault. It's no one's fault. It was supposed to happen. So, I blubber out, "Well, what would Be'Joke say? What would he tell you?"

Corin's eyes seem to uncloud only a little. He looks at me with a small smile. "I like your personality, Michelangelo. You remind me of me when I was young."

Whoa! "I do!?" 

Corin nods, "Yeah. Now, Michelangelo, I need you to listen. I'm going to give you something. I'm trusting that you will keep it safe. Okay?"

I feel my baby blue's widen," No! Corin, I'm the least trusted person on the team!"

"So your brothers say. But, I think if it came down to it, you'd save us all. Now listen," Corin swirls his finger above his palm. A cloud of black dust whirls up like a twister, then disappears. A big glass jar that looks like what Captain Jack Sparrow had in the second movie appears. It even looks like it has dirt in it.

"A jar of dirt?" I question as the little tune pops in my head. _I've got a jar of dirt. I've got a jar of dirt. And you don't know what's inside it!_

"Not any jar of dirt, Michelangelo. What's in here is more important than life itself. At least, in our world. I want you to keep is safe."

He plops it in my hand. I eye it suspiciously," What's in it?"

Corin winks through the glass, "That's a story for another time." Then, like the wind, he's gone.

He gave me a part of the dream world. He's trusting me with it. I feel…proud. I've done something right. And I swear, I will _not_ screw up this time. I will make sure that great wizard stays proud of me. And the man I finally understand, finally see, Be'Joke stays proud.

I shake the jar a little, just to see the dirt move. Only, it doesn't move like I thought it would. The "dirt" turns black and white and seems to separate itself into two masses. Like they oppose each other…I think that's how you would describe it anyway. It doesn't look like dirt now. It looks like liquid. And it keeps swirling on its own.

What the freak did Corin just trust me with?

And what the freak _is it?_ Didn't I just say that?


	8. Real Heroes

**6: Leo**

 **REAL HEROES**

"Ease up on the gas a little. That's it. No, don't hit the brake. People could rear end us."

Raph's foot edges off the brake as he sighs. "Why'd we have to bring her? Why couldn't it be us? What is Felix gonna think, especially after Kate…you know…"

I shrug, "I didn't think about it. Is Shredder still following us?"

Raph looks at the rearview mirror, then back to the road. "Yeah. He followed us clear to Wallace. What you gonna do? What you gonna say?"

As we pass the mile sign to Wallace, I look back. Shredder is at least three yards behind us. I look down at Karai, sprawled out on the seat, her eyes fluttering. I wonder what she is dreaming about…

"SON OF A-"

I twist around and scream so loud, Karai jumps back into reality.

"SWERVE!"

Raph yanks the wheel to the right. I hear Karai slam into the door, a grunt pushing through her. I slam into the door, too, but I grip the handle so I don't go flying.

"LEFT!" I scream as another one passes in front of us. Raph goes left.

"RIGHT!" Two more.

Three more. "LEFT!"

The last flips us into a tail spin. All three of us scream as the world blurs around us. Raph hits the brakes, almost making up flip. Miracuasly we don't and we stop, halfway between both sides of the road.

After the ride we had, we sit, breathing like our lives just passed before our eyes.

"What?" Raph pants, "Was that?"

"L-Leo," Karai swallows close to my ear," I just dreamed of those."

My eyes widen," Flying. Buffalo."

I feel her nod inches away. "Yeah."

"A breach?" Raph coughs.

"P-Probably."

"…Huh…"

 _SLAM!_

A scream jerks out of Karai, Raph and I as something slams at the van's back doors. We turn and Karai groans, "FATHER!"

Shredder. Is _. Ticked_. He looks like he's gonna tear each of our heads off and eat them just to prove a point.

Better get this over with.

I get out of the van and come around to talk to him. I hear Raph's door slam, then the passenger side. Karai is by my side seconds before I reach Shredder.

He grabs my sweatshirt and shakes me," You fool, you almost killed my daughter!"

Raph pushes his shoulder so he's not so close to me, "He wasn't driving. Let him be. And she's not you daughter anyway."

Shredder ignores that last sentence and turns his anger on Raph, hitting my brother on the side of the head. "Who taught you to drive?! I've seen fish drive better than you."

I wouldn't consider Fishface as a fish driving cause of mechanical legs but I'm not gonna burst Shredders' bubble.

I step in before Raph or Karai can make it worse, "If you were behind us, you would have saw those things that came out of nowhere. We couldn't drive through a whole herd so we swerved. And we're still alive. Isn't that what matters?"

I watch Shredders' eyes twitch 'til he raises his claws like a warning. I nod telling him I understand.

Karai tells him to settle down while I go back to the front of the van. I smile at the fascinating fact that we stopped right at the foot of Wallace.

Raph steps beside me, also smiling. "Will you look at that? Only a couple of hours and we're here."

I hear feet come up behind me and Karai growling under her breath. Then Shred-head says, "Who are we looking for?"

I look back at him, eye raised, "We?"

Karai sighs, "He's not leaving. He's sticking to us."

"Unless you come home," Shredder adds.

"No."

"Alright then."

Raph glares at Shredder as I explain to him, "Do you remember Felix? The kid with brown eyes and hair. Pale. Wore khaki's and a sports jacket. Black wings with white spots."

Karai's eyes narrow as she envisions my friend. Shredder nods, "We are looking for him."

"Yep. The dream realm has reopened to our world. And I need Felix to help me fix it."

We stare at Wallace's streets for a while. A beep and honk from a small buggie and semi bring us back to reality.

I clap my hands," First things first. We need to move the van."

It takes a little while to get the van moving. Raph doesn't take my advice on how to move the van from the side of the road so we almost back over Shredder and his wolf bike.

Wallace is defiantly small. There are two or three restaurants that I've seen and a few drug stores. Houses litter the streets in various places. Some broken down and some are well made and gorgeous. Others are old and some only have a frame up. I smile as I think of little Abandon. That town was something. Black iron that never got hot and some-what happy Suides everywhere. It's a paradise to me.

Speaking of people, where are they? The sign said the population of Wallace was 763. All I've seen is about five.

"Where is everyone?" Karai asks, voicing my thoughts.

Raph snorts, "Who cares. It'll be easier to find Felix if there's not a bunch of humans everywhere." Then Raph looks in his rearview mirror and snarls, "and if Shredder wasn't riding my butt."

Karai and I turn to look at Shredder. He's driving so close, we could hit the brakes and he'd go flying face fist through the back window.

 _CRACK-BOOM_!

Raph curses as he hits the brakes and the van rocks. Karai yells as she hits the back of the seat, then the floor between the seats. I twist and smack Raph with the palm of my hand on the beak," You shell head! You're never driving a vehicle again!"

As I hop out of the van, I hear Raph mutter under his breath that he drives a motorcycle just fine. And I will admit, he does drive those two-wheelers well.

When I see what, or rather who, Raph hit, I want to sigh in relief and scream in anger at the same time. And when he sees me, he grins like a toothy monkey. I can't believe he's even awake.

Shredder, Raph and Karai come up behind me and they see Felix and me staring at each other.

"Well that wasn't hard at all." Raph grunts.

"How," I growl, "do you get hit by a van, Felix?"

His grin widens as he jumps up and clasps my hand and smacks my shoulder. "Long story that I'd rather not say. My parents were chasing me. How'd you find me?"

"Corin told us. He said since you disappeared he figured you'd be in Wallace. You're home town."

Felix nods, "Yes. I…I don't know what happened, Leo. One minute, I'm standing there eaten' ice cream and talking to Caius and Shen, the next I'm waking up in Hershey hospital."

That's when I notice he's in a jets jersey and jeans with no wings. "How…you've been in the Dream realm for years. Wouldn't your body be…dead?!"

He snorts," You'd think. It turns out my parents kept me on life support all these years hoping I'd wake up from my failed suicide."

"Where's your parents now?"

Felix looks to his left," Uh…I'd say somewhere between Taco Bell and Burger King. They wanted to leave town with all these anomalies happening. But something told me to stay. And lo and behold I was right. I found you. Hey, who's the chick?"

I fill my cheeks with air. Karai gives Felix a look that says call her chick one more time and she'll kill him. I quickly say, "Karai, this is Felix. Felix, Karai."

Felix nods and Karai shakes her head. He looks at Shredder and smiles, "Ay, bucket head."

"What?" Shredder hisses.

Felix holds his hands up in mock surrender. He nods at Raph. "Raphael."

Raph nods back, "Felix."

Felix claps his hands and states, "I'm hungry. Let's eat. McDonalds is just down the road. And my parents won't think to find me there."

"We're fine, "Raph snaps, "We need to get you back to New York. Now."

That goes down the porcelain throne the minute Karai's gut lets out a roar. Following right behind is Shredder's. Raph purses his lips at the sound. I smile and Felix snorts.

"Dinner it is, then," I say.

Fifteen minutes later, we're sitting around a table, eating chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers and milk shakes. I find it hard to imagine Shredder, the crime lord, master killer, eating from a freaking happy meal. To be completely honest, it looks completely scary to see a scarred up Shredder in jeans and a sweatshirt eating from a smiling red box. But here he is watching us stare at him.

Felix whispers," This is so scary."

I nod, "I know right."

Finally, Shredder snaps, "Stop. Staring! Now."

We hold our hands up in surrender. But that doesn't stop up from glancing at the funny sight.

Felix coughs and states," So, you're bringing me to New York."

I nod. Felix smiles as he shoves a fry in his face," Cool. I've never been to New York."

"Corin's here," I say.

That makes him stop eating, fry halfway up to his mouth. "Homey say what."

Raph burps and chucks his milk shake cup toward the garbage. It hits the rim of the can and bounces off making a hollow thud as it hits the floor. "Yeah. Corin decided to be part of the anomalies and drop in. He's hangin' at our place right now-"

Felix jumps up, spraying fries all over. Karai jerks as one lands in her hair. "Corin is here! Why didn't you say that in the first place! Let's go!"

That being said, Felix runs out of the food joint and runs down the street. We sit there for a moment staring after him. Eventually, Shredder hisses," I'm not moving. He can just wait now."

"For a guy who's supposed to be depressed and suicidal, he certainly is spunky," Karai states, flicking the fry out of her hair.

Raph snorts," And not to mention scatter brained."

"I hope he doesn't run into his parents," I say," I really need him."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Shredder snaps.

We probably sit there for about two minutes before Karai slaps down her burger and growls, "We should be going."

Raph sighs," Yeah. Yeah, we should."

Then we spend another minute sitting there before we actually get out butts off the chairs and leave, the cashiers not even bothering to take out money. Pointless, they say, when the worlds' coming to an end.

They just happened to be looking at me and Raph when they said that. Didn't hurt too much. We are mutants after all.

It doesn't take long to find Felix. He's fifty feet from the van. Only he's not facing it.

"Felix!" I yell, running to him, "What are you looking a-"

"King! My King! Leonardo!"

I'm only feet from Felix but I can hear what he's seeing. I turn and there, in the dark greying sky, is a red head with white wings.

 _Sadie_?

"Sadie?! SADIE!" I yell and run down the street. She got sent here, too! I can't believe it!

"SADIE!" I chase her through the streets, yelling her name 'til I notice… _cobblestone_?!

"SAD-"

I barely get the name out before screaming pain explodes in my back. It's the same pain from when I was in that pool with the squeezing vines. So when, I feel the feather drift by my face, I immediately know what to do.

I spring into the air, straight at Sadie. She doesn't see me 'til I nearly collide with her.

"SADIE!"

She turns and her smile is so big and relieved I wonder what she's been through.

"My King! You are alive!"

I embrace Sadie as she squeezes me, keeping us hovering above the Earth. I say, "Of course I'm alive. Who said I wasn't?"

"Aro sent us here. We feared we'd run into your body somewhere. Amun, he's so worried. We must find him. We must tell him the good news."

"Amun? Where is he?"

Sadie opens her mouth right as I hear Felix scream from below, "LEO! DU-"

That's when something hard hits us. We grunt as our wings close up, automatically and pain splits through us.

We tailspin into a building, hitting hard enough to send cement down to the road.

"Ugh, what was that?" I say, flipping on my back and stare at the sky.

"Come to me, Suides. Let me finally eat you up."

I freeze. So does Sadie. "Who…is that?" I whisper.

Sadie's eyes cloud and get glassy. Then I know it's bad. "Death."

The ground disappears beneath us. We float up and turn, arms and wings spread out to face…not what I thought Death would look like.

He's tall, does where black but as a trench coat, jeans and shirt. He has this wired red hair thing going on and he looks about in his late fifties. He eyes us as if we're food.

He smiles dangerously," Hades, if you please, Sadie. It is such a catchy name."

I can't move my head. If I could, I'd look for the others. I can't hear them. Where are they?

"What do you want?" Sadie hisses beside me. Her snip makes his hand twitch, making everything in me go numb.

Hades clicks his tongue," I'm sure you know, Miss Sadie. Other than bringing your special King to his knees in front of Aro I want you. Your life force. You survivors. Always think you can get away from me."

"Life force…" I whisper.

Hades smiles as if he knows something we don't." Don't worry, my _King_ , it won't hurt too much. Just enough to make you scream."

As he says that, his skin peels back, rotting flesh glaring at us. Oh…my…

I choke. My air is gone. My eyes are budging out of my head and my throat…I can feel it constricting around my neck bone and wind pipe. My heart beat quickens. Then I see pure white and red coming from both me and Sadie. It sucks into Hades and the flesh turns fresh and lively.

Life force…h's draining us to become young and we…become…old…

"ARGH!" 

Sadie and I gasp as blue, white and black fly past us. Hades falls back as both Rpah and Felix tackle him. It's the anomalies. It gave them back their wings, too.

Sadie and I fall right as three things happen at once. Sadie touches my arm then is gone as Amun and half her clan comes through, snatches her and goes for Hades. He disappears into black dust as the vampires hit that spot.

Second, Raph and Felix fly back to me as werewolves the size of humans run into the scene and attack the vampires.

And third, Shredder joins the fight.

The world turns into chaos as wolves come at us, only to be tackled by vampires.

"Leo!" Raph howls at me, patting my chest," Are you-"

He's gone. The world goes quiet. I see everyone moving but it's almost like slow motion. That man, Death, stands before me.

"What are you?" I ask quietly.

"Not a nightmare, if that's what you're asking." He replies.

"What are you doing to me?"

"Nothing you aren't doing to yourself," he says, motioning to the rushing world around us.

I squint, confused," What?"

"You are King. You may not know you're power now. But you will."

"Power?"

I blink and he's gone. The world comes into motion at a normal pace. A hand that I should have seen coming slaps me. I yelp.

"You idiot," Raph is howling," don't do that!"

I shake my head," Karai! Where is-"

"Karai's coming," Felix answers, looking behind us. That's when I notice the protective circle Amun and Sadie's' vampires have made around us. Karai and Shred head are gonna have a heck of time getting through that. Speaking of, where is that murderous warlord?

The wolves are snacking off vampire one by one. I get to my feet right as the biggest wolf, the pack leader, breaks through.

I lurch back, Raph, Felix and I scream as it pounces on me. I feel it's breath on my neck, ready to snap it. Raph's arm covers my neck and Felix grabs me, trying to tug me away. All around me, the wolves are howling, "Kill the King! Kill the King!"

I'm the King. Once I'm dead, they'll go after Raph. And Donnie…it'll never end.

"NO!" I howl grabbing my sword as his mouth closes.

Suddenly its eyes widen, then go blank. It falls on me so Felix and I have to push it off. What just happened? What just-

Then I see Shredder and everything becomes clear. He has these giant bat wings sprouting from beneath his armor. One claw is bloody from stabbing the wolf and the rest of him is just as bloody.

"A demon follower," Felix whispers," the Suide that fell farther than any other. Oh…my…"

The wolves see their fallen leader and whine. Some back away and run. Others' stare. And one…I should have saw it coming.

"NO!"

The scream jerks from both Karai, who's finally got to us, and me.

Shredder doesn't even scream. He just collapses, blood running from his throat. I know he's old and he's my enemy but something in me snaps at my enemy falling to his knees.

I don't know what makes me stand and I don't know what flows through me and out of me, but as I do so and extract my sword, it glows. A pull goes into me, then, as I swing at the wolf like a warning, black dust poofs out in a form of a knife…and decapitates the wolf.

All around me are howls of fear and screams, "He's got the nightmares!" "The nightmare!" He's the king!" "HE'S THE KING!"

Vampire's chase those retreated wolves away from Wallace and screaming citizens. Lamp posts are garbage cans are flying all over the place. But all I can focus on is Saki.

Sadie is feet from the body keeping Amun away while we surround Saki. I kneel on his right while Karai on his left. Raphie and Felix watch from a ways away.

"Father!" Karai cries, tears coming to her eyes. He's not her father but I don't bring that up. Let her mourn. She was closest to him. But when I look at Saki, he' snot looking at Karai.

He's looking at me.

"Saki," I say gently.

"Leonardo," He chokes. I'm surprised he can even talk.

He stares at me for another moment, then bloodily coughs, "Take it."

I frown harder, "Take what?"

He frowns, too, "You…are stupid." He slurs the s but I understand him, "Take…the kuro…kubuto."

Now I choke," The…the helmet! You're helmet! No! I…I can't take that!"

I don't have a choice. Saki, trembling, takes it off and shoves it in my hands.

"Take…the…helmet!" he says forcefully.

"Saki, no. I'm not a Foot. Karai deserves it, not me-"

"Don't…argue…with me."

"Father," Karai squeaks," The Kuro Kubuto-"

"Belongs to a leader…" Saki's burnt face refocuses on me, "And as much as I hate it, it belongs to him."

I just keep shaking my head, not me, not me. Saki hate me. Not me, never me.

Then, right as Saki's eyes glaze over and die, he whispers out, "Long live the Hamatos. Long live _King Leonardo_ …Nagi, I'm coming home."

Raph, Karai and Felix gasp. I sit there, the helmet in hand. Slowly, just like my dear, beautiful Kate, Saki, not the Shredder, Saki, turns to dust and floats away into the dark grey sky. I can't explain the images I see as he disappears. It's like bit and pieces of Saki's life.

 _You may not know your power now. But you will._

We sit there for a long time, even long after I tell Amun and Sadie to go to the farm house where they can be safe. I believe, all we can think is…

 _What now?_


End file.
